A Tail of a Time
by Sakuraangel1327
Summary: My entire life we were told of the legends, the myths that is our magic, and now here I am bound to a ship that hunts the things I am. I was captured by those who knew only of the legends that we are. Love, Loyalty, a neverending War between good and evil
1. Prologue

Ok guys, this has been changed throughout and in no order, so please re-read before continuing onto the next chapter. Thankyou 22/11/08.

**A Tail of a Time**

**Prologue**

You know how Mermaids, Dragons, Fairy's, Witches and all of those types of things are meant to be Mythical creatures? Guess again, one of those creatures is real. How do I know? I am one. I am Sakura Haruno, Princess of the Merpeople, a.k.a. 'The Water Clan'.

We can bend, or use, water to our will; except there are rules to this. Not all Merpeople have the same powers. For instance, Royalty has the power to make water from their hands using the water vapour in the air, and they can freeze water, as well as having the powers of normal Merpeople (otherwise known as 'Commoners').

The normal powers consist of only being able to use, and bend to our will, water that already exists, and being able to transform into a human for as long as 24 hours at a time, with at least an hour in between. Cool huh?

Well, as I said, I am the Princess and only 3 people have the powers of the Royalty: my mum, my dad… and me.

Pirates have heard of us and forever try to catch us; seriously it gets boring after a while. I have never been caught before, mainly cause I can outswim any net, any fish, any shark or any Merperson. I am the fastest in all the oceans.

There are certain characteristics that make the Royalty able to be seen and known that they are Royals. Firstly, our tails and fins are longer, secondly, our different powers, and thirdly the fact that our jewellery (pearls and crowns) are more sophisticated and our tail is more decorated. For instance, on my tail, I was born with dark pink flowers around the rim with the scales being light pink. The ending fin is a darker pink than the scales, yet a lighter pink than the flowers and has the same coloured flowers as the decorative rim. I was just born like that.

Then for the top half I have 2 large starfish (still alive might I add) attached to my chest blocking it from view with seaweed straps. I have a diamond belly button ring, this also shows that I am Royalty because normal Mermaids would have only a pearl, and we have them in plentiful sack fulls. I have a pearl bracelet on each wrist (which every Mermaid has), and because I am Royalty I have a pearl necklace as well. Apparently only Royalty can have a Pearl necklace. I have my hair in two plaits with pearl hair bands holding them together and on my ears I have two smaller live starfish called Nura and Tori. If I am in trouble they are able to go for help, but that has never happened before.

Resting on my head is the one thing _every _Royal Mermaid has… a tiara; a band of silver in an intricate design with a ruby raindrop in the middle. If everything else didn't show you that I was Royalty, obviously the tiara would do it.

There is only one kingdom in all the oceans, and that is my kingdom that I shall rule once my father, Damien, and my mother, Suki, step down. Our kingdom is fairly ruled with a fair King and a know-all Queen. Add an adventurous and caring Princess (soon to be Queen) to the list and what you have is a kingdom every Merperson loves and not one single person has tried to overtake us.

Our lifespan is longer than a humans' for we have the power and knowledge of the oceans. A human lasts until they are about 90. We Merpeople live to the age of 450. With every ten years that passes, we age only one. So… roughly we live to the appearance of a 45 year old, which is good because we Merpeople have our prides and we like to die with dignity and beauty.

At the moment I am 170 years old and not considered a fully grown Mermaid with her full potential of powers. When a Merperson turns to the age of 180 they are considered a full grown Merperson and only when you have done an honorary achievement will you bring your powers into their full potential, otherwise they will stay at a weakened state like the majority of the Merpeople in my kingdom. Not that this is looked down upon, this is what is considered normal in how kingdom and a person who achieves their full potential is rare and well thought of. A Royal who has not reached their full potential by the age of 180 years of age is considered abnormal though, that is why the Royals have such a high image to maintain.

As I said before with the whole 'being able to change into a two footed land- walking human being for 24 hours tops' thing, its true. We can _only_ stay in that form for 24 hours, after than we automatically change back into a human, which is bad if we are no where near a water source.

Here's the thing, we need water at least once a day, whether we drink it, soak it up or whatever, we need water. Then, once a week minimum we need _salt_ water in our systems, otherwise, even with normal water, we would still shrivel up. And then we would end up looking like a prune.

When a Merperson changes, we automatically have something covering our lower half, it has the same theme as our tails, so for a commoners' tail is would just be the one colour, but with a Royal it wouldn't. For instance, I have a light pink pair of shorts that appears when I shift into my human form with dark pink flowers around the band at the top.

Even when we have two legs we still can breathe under water and have all the qualities we used to have as a Merperson. Nothing changed on the inside only on the outside. I know, I know, it's complicated, but that's our life.

I now believe I have covered everything there is to know about me and my people, I'm sure if something comes up I will tell you.

Now, like I said about me never being caught… I was kind of lying. I once got caught in a net from the ship 'The Bloody Sharingan', weird name right? I thought so too. I got caught in its' nets while I protected some of my people from being captured. I am just that kind of girl. I would rather I get captured then some of my people because I know as a fact that I am stronger and have a better chance of surviving then they do. And even though I went through Hell and pain, I never ever regretted being caught because if I hadn't I never would have met my true love and made new friends. This is my story; of love, pain, terror and sadness. If you read on be prepared for the adventure of a lifetime…


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

So the whole 'getting caught' thing started one day as I was swimming with some of my friends. I had commoner friends, so what? Just cause I was Royalty doesn't mean I had to only be friends with Duchesses and Lady's and date Dukes and Lord's. I had the three best friends I could ever want. Yamanka Ino had been my best friend since I was 80, before then I wasn't allowed out of the kingdom because I was so young and my parents are so over-protective. And then I met Tenten, she doesn't seem to have a last name which is quite weird, or parents, and Hyuuga Hinata. They were visiting my parents along with their brother and parents. When Tenten was around 10 her parents died in a boating accident and Hinata had taken her in. They had been living with each other ever since. True sisters as they like to call each other. They had been visiting my parents to ask for a new location seeing as their home had been destroyed by hammerhead sharks.

They had gotten lost on the way to the bathroom and had entered my room, where Ino and I had been playing spongeball.

I had thought it was my parents so I had quickly throw myself on Ino and we had both landed on the sponge right in front of the door. Imagine our surprise when two little mermaids had entered my room while Ino and I were in a tangle of fins and limbs. They had introduced themselves while Hinata stuttered she was sorry and that they were lost. We had become quick friends at age 130. They always come to visit, well, when they can. Hinata's family was promoted to Lord's and Lady's about 10 years ago. I dated her brother Neji a while back, but he is so damn emotionless I just had to give it away, awesome kisser or not.

Anyway, this is so getting off topic, I had started to tell you all about my capture and now I am blabbering on about awesome kissers, even though he was. Oooh, I get shivers up my spine just thinking about it.

Ahem, anyway… again. All four of us had been racing in the coral cave, with me ahead as they all knew considering I was the fastest swimmer the kingdom has, not to be overly modest or anything, and when we had come out we hadn't noticed the nets in front of us. We were too busy laughing as Ino got her hair stuck in the reef. Her purple tail thrashed around as her purple clam top started to slip off in the struggle.

"Oh my goddess Ino, you're top is coming off!" I heard Tenten shriek with laughter as Ino quickly grasped her top. I snorted as Hinata was the only one to help Ino untangle her long blonde hair as she was not laughing. Ino's hair was seriously, REALLY long. I think it was down to her hips now. I couldn't really tell as she always had it in a ponytail nowadays, all I knew was that her side fringe covered her right eye and went all the way down to her chest. Her ponytail ended at her belly button. It was tied with seaweed, as was most things around here. She always wore two pearl hairclips on the left side of her hair to hold back the hair from her _other_ eye. I mean, she had to be able to SEE right?

I was still laughing as both Tenten and I doubled over as Ino started to scream curse words at us.

"WHEN I GET OUTTA HERE I AM GOING TO KILL YOU BILLBOARD-BROW!!! AND YOU TOO TENTEN NO NAME!!!!!" Phew, my stomach hurts from laughing so hard.

"Ok, haha, I think it's time to help her out," Tenten laughed as she wiped tears from her eyes, even though our tears would not show considering we were UNDERWATER, duh! We always seem to do that anyway, it's strange really, but hey we are strange teenagers and proud of it.

"OK, ok," I agreed rather reluctantly as we moved forward to help Ino out. It took about 5 minutes to get all her hair out of the reef, but in the end we finally got it all out without ripping any of it. I was quite proud of that feat.

"Took you guys long enough," Ino complained as she tried to tame her now afro looking hair. Well that started Tenten and I up again and even Hinata let out a little giggle as Ino's usual super straight shiny hair looked like it had just had a perm. And a bad one at that considering only the bottom was frizzy.

"Haha, very funny guys, you're such a hoo – SAKURA LOOK OUT!!" I watched as Ino's face lit up in horror as she looked at something behind me. I whipped around to see a net come out of no where, and sneak up behind me.

Even before I had realised what was happening I had shoved Ino, Hinata and Tenten back into the cave, for I knew they would be safe there, but I knew that in saving them I would be caught because the net was practically invisible and I had no time to swim away. I barely had time to save my friends from being caught as well.

I watched with a sinking sadness as my friends got farther away from me as I was wrapped in a cocoon of unescapable net and pulled to the surface.  
"SAKURA! SAKURA NO!" Ino and the girls started to swim after me but I knew if they got any closer they would be caught as well, and then no one could go get help.

"No! Stop! Go get help. If you guys get caught too… please, I saved you for a reason. Please, move away. Get help." I pleaded with them as best I could as I tried to swim against the nets. It was obviously impossible though, all it did was give a little resistance against the pull of the fishing net.

As I broke the surface of the ocean I quickly changed my tail into legs and lay very very still. My hair had come out of its two plaits a long time ago and was now sticking to my cheek and shoulder were it rested.

I knew deep in my heart that no matter what Ino and the girls did, I wasn't coming home any time soon, if not at all. I was captured, and that was as good as gone. My only chance was that if my Royal status got me more leverage on the whole 'search party' thing.

While I was hanging there in the air I heard shouting going on around me,

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

"IS THAT A GIRL?!"

"WHO THE FUCK IS SHE!?"

My god, what is with their language, and seriously have they never seen a girl before? And yeah, Merperson or not, I am still a _girl_, as in FEMALE.

I lifted my eyes up discreetly while keeping my head in the exact same position. As I lifted my eyes I took in my surroundings, all of this while hanging in mid air mind you. I noticed the people on deck staring at me with wide eyes and jaws hanging open. My eyes flitted from the deck to the ocean where I saw purple, green and blue close to the surface. I knew they were going to do as I said, to leave and get help, but they had to go now if they wanted a chance at all to save me. Three pairs of eyes watched me from the water as I looked at them sadly and a single tear fell from my eyes and mixed in with the drops of water falling from the net into the water, distorting the oceans' surface. They were obscured from view as I was lifted higher and placed onto the deck in a heap of net, fish and human.

The net was pulled off me as I was rolled away from it onto my back. I opened my emerald eyes as someone leant over me, checking for a pulse. My eyes met Onyx as I felt something bloom in my heart. I didn't know what it was, but it scared me and I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out what it was either.

All I knew at that moment was that I was in trouble. If they found out I was a mermaid they could sell me for millions, billions even. They were pirates that much I could tell, so I knew they would indeed sell me, so I had to make sure they didn't find out I belonged to the ocean and had fins. Making sure they didn't find out would be the incredibly difficult part.

As soon as my eyes connected with the man's over me I knew I was in over my head and keeping the secret of being a mermaid would be the least of my worries where he was concerned.

I had to worry about falling in love.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

I lay perfectly still as I pretended to have passed out. I heard voices all around me asking questions like,

'Who is she?'

'Why is she wearing that?'

'Why was she in the ocean?'

'What do we do now?'

I listened closely and realised no one had the answers, so so far I was safe. At least safe enough to presume they don't know the Mermaid legends, or at least not enough of them to automatically realise that I was indeed a mermaid who had turned into her human form. The next thing said nearly made my blood turn cold,

"Hey Sasuke, she's wearing a crown, and look at all her jewellery. We could probably sell them for some pretty good gold." I didn't hear the answer, but the next thing I knew I felt tugging at my hair. Hell no they were getting my crown. I acted on my instincts and threw my hand up catching whoever was at my hair in the forearm and twisting. I jumped in the air and spun kicked whoever it was in the face. As I stood there puffing I realised it all the crew was staring wide eyed at me as I took a fighting stance. Just because I was a mermaid didn't mean I didn't learn how to fight. We had multiple caverns where they was a wide enough space to practise all types of two legged things like; Gymnastics, hand-to-hand combat, dancing, etc.

Being a Royal meant you had to be the best in all of these subjects, so of course I had been trained hard by all of the best tutors.

"Holy shit Kiba, she just kicked your ass!" I looked over to see a tall blonde haired male with three identical scars on each cheek laughing hard. My gaze narrowed as some of the crew stalked towards me, creating a loose circle around me.

As I kept spinning around slowly trying to get all the men in my view my eyes met onyx as the man he checked my pulse came forward. The circle parted immediately, so I knew he was heard in high esteem. He might even be the captain. If so, I knew I would have to keep _everything_ about myself a secret from him, if not he would be to sell me.

"What were you doing in the water?" His deep sexy voice sent shivers up and down my spine as he asked his question.

"I fell from my boat," my lie was believable right?

"Wow, your voice is so beautiful! Husky and sounding like golden chimes. What's your –" I had to let out a small giggle as the hyperactive blonde was cut off by the onyx eyed man.

"Naruto! Now, why did you fall off your boat?" His sharp eyes showing his mistrust.

"We were attacked by pirates. My servants helped me escape. The last thing I saw was my ship on fire," hell I am such a good actress, I even shed some fake tears before bursting into great loud sobs, them fake as well obviously.

I don't think he bought it though because the next thing I no, my arm is gripped and pulled, making my face seen as the dark haired man looked deep into my eyes.

"You're lying. Tell me the truth!" Well, I take it my acting skills aren't as good as I thought. Either that or he is smarter than I first thought.

"I just told you the truth! Now unhand me! You have no right to touch me!" Whether he believed me or not I didn't care, but he would _not_ touch me. Everytime he did the places where he touched heated up and I couldn't help but blush.

"I don't believe you. Do you know where you are? You're on a pirates' ship! You were in that water for a long time before we caught you in our net. If you had broken water for even half an hour earlier we would have seen you. Now tell me the truth!" _Now_ what was I meant to say?

"Teme, leave the Lady alone!" I couldn't help but flinch when the blonde haired male stepped forward and offered me his hand.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Believe it! Here," as he introduced himself I couldn't help but notice his rippling muscles barely hidden in the ripped sleeveless washed out orange shirt he wore. His hand was still in front of my face as I snapped out of my daze.

"Oh sorry," embarrassed I grabbed his hand and he helped me to my feet, his black loose pants grazed my skin as he pulled me to him.

"There ya go. What's your name then?" His smile seemed so charming and friendly I couldn't help but answer truthfully,

"Haruno Sakura…"

"Well, Sakura-chan, allow me to give you the grand tour of 'The Bloody Sharingan'." I think he was talking about the ship, I didn't really pay any attention because just then I noticed the 'teme' as he had called him was staring at me with a smothering gaze, his eyes seemed so deep I could get lost in them.

"– are you listening Sakura-chan?" I turned to Naruto and noticed he was pouting. Immediately my face lit up like red coral when the moonlight touches it just right.

"S-sorry," I can't believe I was actually _stuttering_ of all things. Princesses **don't**__stutter. Especially THIS princess.

"It's ok. Come this way," as I followed Naruto, who offered me his elbow, I noticed all the crew staring at me. Whether it was my hair or my body, I didn't know which, because I knew my hair was unusual, no one else in my kingdom had hair like mine, and I also knew my body was nice, even for my age. Ino, Tenten and Hinata have always told me they wish they had my body. Other Mermaids have said it as well as them, and the Mermen are forever trying to court me. I know by all the lustful stares I receive from the men, and all the hateful gazes from the women.

My body was curvaceous and my bust was, well, let's just say the two starfish covering my chest were the biggest my father could find. I knew my legs were long and my body was muscular, but thin. The only thing my friends don't want of mine is my height. I am such a short-fish. My skin was also pale, but in an attractive way apparently. My dad says I inherited that from my mother and he is forever complimenting my mother on her skin tone. He said that was one of the things that made her catch his eye in the first place. Many others have said that to me as well, but it meant more coming from my father.

Enough about me though, jeez, I sound so up myself right now. I was just trying to give you a picture in your mind to explain why they would all be looking at me. I mean, don't get me wrong, Hinata, Tenten and Ino are also gorgeous, but merman would look at me before them, as mean as that is to say, it's a fact.

Even my face attracts the males and makes the females jealous. My lips are pouty, red without using crushed red coral, and full. My eyes are wide and innocent looking with the emerald colour sparkling and glittering. My hair was luscious and shiny.

Sometimes I liked the fact that I was considered very beautiful and other times I hated it. It gives reason for kidnaps, rapes and hateful friends. Not that any of these things have happened yet. My friends will always stay true, that much I know for sure, and as for rapes, I am stronger than pretty much ALL of the Mermen in my kingdom and for the kidnaps… can I even consider this a kidnap? It wasn't on purpose, I got caught in their net and therefore I am their prisoner…

As I walked on in a daze thinking all of these things I paid no heed to Naruto as he took me into each room under the deck and explained, in detail, everything there was to know about it. I caught snippets as I tuned out again,

"– and this is Sasuke's room. He's such a teme, he never –" This continued for another 10 minutes as I was dragged around by the blonde before another voice broke through my trance.

"She's not even listening dobe. And who said you could bring her down here? She's a prisoner now." I whipped around to see the black haired captain leaning casually against the doorframe of his own room staring at me with his smouldering gaze yet again. My knees felt weak as he continued staring at me with my breaths coming out shorter.

"What!? Why?" I heard Naruto yell at him as my heart began to speed up.

"She is obviously rich and would make a great ransom. She's also hiding something and I want to find out what it is. So we are going to keep her here until she tells us." My gaze immediately hardened as I heard his words.

"No. I am not lying and no one will take up your ransom," even as I said this I knew it was true. How was my father even to know where I was to start with so he could pay the ransom?

"Hn. We'll see. As for now, I bind you to this ship!" As those words were spoken I felt magic deep within me, it was strange and I had no idea what was happening. I felt rooted to the boat and as I thought about it more I remember an old Merfolk tale:

_Legend says that if a human verbally binds a Merperson to someplace they are magically bound to that place until the same person sets your free. They must say, 'I free you from thy bind'. Otherwise you are never to leave unless you die, or they die, you will forever remain in that place. That is why you NEVER let a human find out what you are because if they know this old Merfolk legend they can bind you to their _will_ and use you as they please and you will have no say at all. No free will. Your magic and life will be in their hands until they decide to set you free. And while you are bound to a _person_ they will life as long as you do, granting them a longer life just as a Merperson would live._

My thoughts took a turn for the worst as the world started to turn black. I felt myself fall and I braced myself for the hard cold floor, but instead was met with warm soft arms catching me before I could hit the floorboards.

I heard shouting around me as I lost consciousness. Only one thought entered my mind before it went blank,

'_I can never go home now'._


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

I awoke to the feeling of a wet cloth being wiped across my forehead. I quickly opened my eyes when I heard a splash of water. Dark ocean blue eyes gazed back at me as I stared unblinkingly up at the boy in front of me. With a yelp he jumped back, his voice giving me the indication he was young. I lay very still as my head throbbed and my eyes adjusted to the light around me. Memories washed back in as I slowly looked around. Walls made of wood swam into my vision as my eyesight went in and out of focus. I groaned as I lifted a hand to my head as a headache pounded against my skull, as if it were trying to escape.

"Arhn, what the pink coral happened?" The last thing I remembered was dark, seemingly endless onyx eyes, and then a… feeling… no a **tug** inside me. Like something was calling me, like something was pulling at me, making me different in a way. But what was it? I can't remember…

"You passed out when talking to the Captain and Naruto nii-san. Nii-san caught you and carried you into the Captains quarters on his orders. And you've been unconscious for about 4 hours. The sun is about to set." I looked over to where the voice was originating and saw a boy of about 9 with dark blue eyes and short spiky dark purple hair. He was wearing a loose silver cotton shirt with some, what seemed ripped, dark blue pants obviously held up with a belt because they looked about 10 sizes too big for him. All in all he was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I take no responsibility for my next actions.

"Oh my coddlefish! You are so damn cute! You're like a baby sea-sponge! I must cuddle you!" It was like something possessed me because the next thing I know I had him in my arms and I was squishing the heck out of him. That was the scene the blonde haired and blue eyed man walked in on. And boy did he look awkward, but I didn't care. I wasn't done with my squishing!

"Erm… Satoshi… are you ok?" I am guessing that was the little kid's name when he answered,

"Yeaf," his answer must have been muffled against me because it didn't come out clear. "Camf breafe." Camf breafe? What does he mea – CAN'T BREATHE!! Oh my seastar, I was killing him!

"Argh, sorry!" I ripped him from my arms and shoved him on the bed as he fought for breath.

"It's… okay…" He puffed out as I looked at him worriedly, my arms itching to cuddle him again.

"Are you sure. I'm sorry, when I see cute things I tend to lose myself and launch myself at them. I can't help it. It's involuntary…" I trailed off as I realised the blonde was staring at me with his mouth gaping. "What?" I suddenly felt incredibly self conscious. I touched my hair to make sure it looked ok, and realised the plaits had come out making it look slightly curly. I caught my reflection in the mirror and noticed it had a slight shine to it. Probably because of the water I had soaked through my forehead pores from where the boy had wiped my forehead. Water always brings natural beauty out of Merpeople. It's like a side effect, but a good one of course.

"You're nuts!" He finally cried as the snapping of fingers from behind him brought him out of his daze. I recoiled at the statement. I pressed a finger to my chin as I thought about what he said…

"What's nuts?" I didn't expect his reaction though. He seemed to fall to the ground… very weirdly… It was then I realised there was someone leaning against the doorframe behind him. It was a girl. That much I knew, from the looks of her figure. She was wearing a ripped midriff top than had no sleeves and was a deep blue, bordering on purple top. She wore three quarter brown tight pants help up by a black studded belt. She had four spiky ponytails, blonde hair and was looking at me… No, she was glaring at me.

"What?" I asked. I mean seriously, you have to be glaring for a reason right? Her eyes continuing glaring at me as she opened her mouth to talk… but it wasn't at me that she spoke. How rude!

"What is _she_ doing here Naruto? Why haven't you sold her yet?" Excuse me? Selling? Like hell I will be sold!

"Sasuke hasn't decided yet Temari-chan," The blonde seemed to look sheepish. What the cuttlefish is going on here?

"I will not be sold!" I just had to make my declaration. I mean really, what are they thinking. I can't leave anyway. I seemed to be 'bonded' to the fricken boat. Yeah, that's right. I just remembered. Fabulous flounder fish! This just keeps getting better.

"You don't have a choice _princess_." The girl called Temari spat at me. Wait, hold the swordfish… they know I am a princess?! Oh yeah, that was my cover. I mean, I _am_ wearing a tiara after all. It doesn't take a sea urchin to figure it out.

"Now now Temari, play nice," a voice from the doorway made all three of us turn to see a brown haired man about the same age as the blonde leaning against the doorframe in the same spot that the girl had previously been in, but now she stood about 10 feet in front of me, at the end of the bed. He looked slightly familiar.

"You can't talk Kiba, you got your ass kicked by her. A petty _princess_." Why does she keep saying it like that? What's wrong with being a princess?

"W-what are you talking about!? I-I was easy on her cause she's a… girl! Yeah, cause she's a girl!" Even I didn't believe him and I don't even understand humans fully yet. All three of us just stared at him in disdain as 'Temari' walked out the door, brushing past the man called 'Kiba' on her way out.

"What's up her kaboosh?" Kiba asked, as I wondered what a 'kaboosh' was.

"She's getting in the shits because Teme hasn't decided what to do with Sakura-chan yet." The blonde who I am guessing is named 'Naruto' because of his previous introduction said with a 'thumbs up' gesture.

"Oooookay then, I am just going to go out there with the 'sane' people, you can stay here with the… girl," god what is this?! I am right here damnit! I _can_ hear you!

I huffed in annoyance as the man left me alone with the cuddlemuffin Satoshi-chan, and Naruto. Well, I couldn't just stay on the bed with them both staring at me.

"Wanna show me around Satoshi-chan?" I asked as I unfolded my legs beneath me and hopped off the bed, my long legs once again seen from beneath the sheets. You know, it doesn't matter that I am pretty much in the sun all day long for my entire life, my skin remains a lovely creamy colour that people say brings out my eye colour and hair colour. I have never seen it though, like I said before.

I didn't remember that Naruto had previously escorted me throughout the ship so when I grabbed Satoshi's hand and began to walk out of the room I didn't realise that Naruto was upset until her said in a hurtful voice,

"I already escorted you throughout the ship… remember Sakura-chan?" I felt so bad, but I truly didn't remember so instead I just looked at him with apologetic eyes and said,

"I am so sorry Naruto, but I don't remember. The last thing I remember is being captured and then walking through the ship, which was probably your tour, but I don't remember any details. It's all hazy". Now, that wasn't a lie, I can't remember any details except for the words that the handsome dark haired and onyx eyed man had said,

"_I bind you to this ship!"_ Jeez, I shudder even now realising that I will forever be on this ship, with these… people.

Satoshi must have sensed my sadness as he gripped my hand tighter and pulled me out the door.

"Come on Sakura-chan, I'll show you around!" With a sigh I heard Naruto follow us with a small distance between us. I gave him one last apologetic small before turning back to Satoshi and his funny little tour.

"And this is the bathroom, but you don't want to be in there at dawn because Naruto nii-san always drinks bad milk so he has dia –"

"Ok that's enough now Satoshi!" Whoa that man can move! One second he's behind me and the next he is next to me with his hand around Satoshi's mouth. I couldn't help but let out a giggle at their expressions on their faces. Soon I was laughing so hard I had to hold onto the wall for support and I had tears rolling down my face.

With a look of astonishment they both looked at me with gaping mouths. Naruto's hand had fallen to the ground, probably in shock as I laughed myself silly. I was still laughing when the ship shook and loud sounds reverberated around me. I was thrown to the ground as the wall next to me shattered in pieces. I was no longer laughing that was for sure. I barely realised that Naruto had moved his body so that it covered both mine and Satoshi's. I was only aware of things splintering around me and the smell of blood in the air. It took me a second to realise the smell of blood was coming from Naruto's arm where he had protected me and from my own leg where a piece of wood had skewered itself in. I was dimly aware of the pain as Naruto started shouting at me, but I wasn't focused. I still didn't realise what happening. I just saw blood, and tears and Satoshi cried in fear. My arms found their way around him as Naruto continued to try and tell me something.

"…attack. We are under attack! Sakura-chan, do you understand? I need you to hide! Do you understand?" I numbly nodded as he helped me stand. I put my weight on my good leg as he helped me into the room I had previously been in.

"Stay here no matter what! Do you understand?" Again I numbly nodded as I tried to understand what was going on. We were under attack? From whom? And why? I didn't have to wait long for the first question as the girl, Temari, ran in and yelled at Naruto.

"It's Sai! He's attacking with his guns and cannons! Some have come aboard and are fighting hand-to-hand!" Naruto looked taken aback as her words washed over him apparently.

"How did they get so close without us noticing?" And why are they still here if the fight is _out there_?

"They came out of the fog! Hurry up! We are losing!" Those last words had me snapping out of the daze I was in. They were losing? But then… what would happen to me? To the people on the ship? To Satoshi? I couldn't just sit here and not do anything. I was a strong fighter and if worst came to worst I could of course use my powers to a small degree. Not too full strength anyway because of the stupid bond to the ship. Only if the one who had bound me demanded it of me I couldn't use my full strength power. Damn that stupid old magic!

The ship shook again; showering Satoshi and me with dust from the roof, and making the boy in my arms shiver with fear again and sob quietly into my chest. I knew deep down that I should have stayed with the boy, but my whole 'princess' promise made me want to protect those I would have to call friends in the time to come. I mean, I wasn't going anyway any time soon, so I would have to help them now and then.

With a sigh I got up and tried to pull the still cute sobbing boy off me.

"Satoshi, listen to me, please. I am going to go help. They don't sound like they are winning," and that was true, I could hear screams coming from left and right, with the last scream being feminine, so I figured it was Temari that had been hurt. "Stay here, and don't move. Do you understand?" With a nod and sniff I knew he understood and would stay still. "Good boy, I am so proud," I knew I had just met him, but I was still proud of the little guy, he was so brave! I kissed his forehead and made my way, stumbling and tripping mind you, out the door and down the corridor where I knew death and fighting lay in wait. Well, heck, I am _the_ princess of the Mercity. There was no way I would just stand by and let the people who have been taking care of me so far get hurt while I do nothing. And it was with that on my mind that I stepped out into the moonlit night and looked around for whoever would need my help.

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Dedicated to Uchiha-Kirara, you wrote an AMAZING review. Thank you so much!


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

I found my first opponent when I saw Temari being held down by one man and the other was kicking her ribs. Even if she had been a downright catfish to me, she still didn't deserve this. With a cry I threw myself at the man who was doing the kicking and then threw a leg up and roundhouse kicked the man who had just gotten off Temari. He fell to the ground with a cry as his head hit the deck, driving him to unconsciousness. The man I had previously hit was on the way of getting up and boy did he look mad. It didn't help that I was handicapped because of the piece of wood that was _still_ in my leg, with blood making a steady trail down my leg, I probably looked the right sight.

He barrelled towards me with the speed of a Mako shark! And trust me, those sharks are pretty fast. Try swimming away from one, you will be completely out of breath after it. And what with me and my handicap I couldn't dodge in time, so down went Sakura, wood splinter and all.

I lay there winded as the guy got up and as he was about to kick me I swung by leg out in a crouch and caught him in the back of the leg, effectively tripping him and making him fall on his back… hard. So, in the time it took him to drag himself up, I grabbed the splinter from my leg and ripped it straight out, biting back the scream that rose in my throat, and hit him over the head with it, effectively knocking him out.

So, here I was; a girl in a shell top and tiny shorts with a leg that looked, most likely, demented holding a bloody red wood splinter in her hands as a weapon. A right sight I was.

But I didn't have time to fix my appearance. All I knew was that the crew of the ship I was currently bonded too were losing the fight. And they were losing badly. Temari was currently out of the running, what with her chest practically crushed and all, and most of the other crew looked like they were about to kneel over dead. They looked like crabfish. And if the ship went down, I went down with it, forever doomed to stay near to the ship, never being allowed freedom because the person who had bound me was dead and the object I was bound to couldn't die because it was inanimate. Just fantastic! A lose-lose situation.

I took off at a run towards a group of three enemy pirates that were attacking one of the younger ones I had seen walking around the ship; Konohimoru or something? He was only just holding up against them with his sword, but there was only so much one sword could do against three. Not to mention to height and strength difference between them. For example Kinohamaru, or whatever his name was, was short in height and not exactly scrawny but not as muscled as the three towering men that stood over him. I knew it wasn't a fair fight so I got in there fast.

When I reached them I whacked the closest one straight across the back of the head with a massive 'WHACK' with my newly found weapon; the wooden plank. He went down faster then you could say 'cuttlefish'. I spun around to face the other two enemies with what I knew was a ferocious look in my eyes. I kicked the closest one in the chest and while he fell overboard I chopped the last standing guy in the throat and when he doubled over I brought my knee up straight into his nose, effectively breaking it and knocking him unconscious.

I breathed hard as I struggled to continue standing even though my leg was practically screaming in pain. It hurt worse than when I hit the poisonous coral reef and blew up like a blowfish and had to rest for 3 weeks while the poison was sucked from my body by Remora fish. It wasn't pretty trust me.

With a glance to the Kinihimoru, or whatever the heck his name is, I made sure he was ok and then sprinted to the side of the boat where a few of the enemy pirates – I knew they were the enemy as they were trying to steal what looked like gold – pulling a plank onto the ship so some of the other pirates could get aboard.

My instincts kicked in as I roundhouse kicked the closest one in the side of the head and as he crumpled to the ground I grabbed his sword and deflected three attacks at once. I wasn't one of the best fighters under the sea for nothing!

I dodged their next attack and stumbled as the loss of blood took effect. I knew I wouldn't last much longer in this state, so as quick as I could I jumped onto the railing and grabbed the closest rope. Seeing it attached to the sails I brought down the sword and as soon it was cut the force of the falling sail brought me up in the air and landing on the upper deck where the steering wheel was. I toppled to the side, but quickly grabbed the wheel to stop myself from totally collapsing onto me knees, but it didn't go quite as planned as the ship lurched to the side with the spin of the wheel under my weight. I went flying into the side of the ship as it titled dangerously to the side sharply.

I heard yells coming from the lower deck as I guessed the crew on board had also been unbalanced by the sudden lurch. My quick glance at the deck confirmed my suspicions; most of the crew and the enemy pirates of course were either leaning against the railing, overboard, on the floor or had braced themselves quickly and were now looked at me with weird expressions. A thought came to me as I saw them try to get themselves up. Without another thought I screamed 'brace yourselves' to the people below, where I was hoping only the 'good' guys listened, and yanked hard on the wheel making the ship once again lurch to the side. This time I was hanging on for dear life as my leg gave out, but I continued to yank the wheel this way and that, disturbing the crew on the deck.

It seemed like only a second later that I felt someone grab my hair and rip me from my position on the wheel and throw me down the stairs onto the deck. I hit hard as my leg screamed in agony, but only a slight gasp passed my lips. I looked up to see a dark haired man tower over me with a facial expression absolutely void of emotion. It was like he was a shell. I tried to crawl backwards like a crab as he stalked forward, but my arms gave out as the blood loss hit me full on, what with all the adrenalin gone and such.

My head hit the deck as I felt my body shutting down. With one last glance at the man above me I felt the darkness consuming me and soon I was unconscious not knowing the fate I had yet to receive.

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**Like my fight scenes? I pride myself with them… considering I have had so much practise ;)**

**By the way, Remora fish are those suckerfish that are usually attached to sharks, or in your fish tanks at home. XD Learning new things every day, huh?**


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

I awoke to hear yelling and the clang of swords. A wave of pain hit me as I realised the wound from my leg had woken me up. I looked down to see the mast across my legs, pinning me to the ground.

I gasped again when I tried to move and felt as if my leg had split open. I am ashamed to say that tears started to flow down my face as a sob made its way up my throat.

Everything was just so hard, my friends were gone, I was captured and now we are under attack and I had no idea what was going to become of me and now I –

A sudden screech of metal had me looking up to see the emotionless man that had been standing over me and… the captain? They were in sword to sword combat that could even give me a challenge.

"Sakura? Come on Sakura, get up," a voice from behind me was softly calling to me, but all I could see and hear was the fight in front of me. Sasuke locked in combat with who I would have to guess was Sai considering the large circle around them chanting that name. My eyes watched as they circled one another like an electric eel circles its' prey and as they eyed each other I felt something pass through me as I watched the man called Sai put his hand behind him and mime something to the people behind him.

My attention was then reverted back to my leg as pain hit me like a killer whale hits its prey. The pain was immense that I never noticed someone apologizing over and over as I screamed again and again, my voice hitting the highest pitch as glass everywhere shattered. I barely noticed as people covered their ears in pain while I felt someone grab my arms and slide it me out from under the mast and pull me into their arms. A soothing voice cooed to me as they rubbed my back and the pain slowly lessened as pressure made itself known to me.

I stopped screaming slowly and looked down to see – Temari of all people rubbing lotion on my leg and wrapping it. She looked up when she noticed I was no longer screaming I guess and her eyes lowered in shame, though I had no idea why until she said,

"Thank you." It all came rushing back to me then. The fight, the injury, her attitude and then me saving her. I am not one to hold a grudge, so there was only one thing to say;

"You're welcome." It was only then I realised that someone was behind me. I shifted my gaze behind me to see Naruto holding me and soothing me. My gaze softened and I felt tears well as he was holding me like my mother and father used to when I had a booboo. I squeezed his arms in thanks and got up gingerly while putting as little weight as I could on my bad leg.

"SASUKE!" A scream from Naruto had me spinning, completely forgetting my injury as I took in the scene before me. Sasuke was on the ground with a gun pointed straight at his temple. Sai was standing looking very smug as I felt my heart constrict as the surprise and confusion alight on Sasuke's face before anger consumed it and he said barely above a whisper,

"You cheated." It was then that I realised his motions behind his back had been for the gun. I seethed as I realised he had dishonoured the fight rules. If there's one thing I am compassionate about its honour. We Merpeople have our ancient traditions and cultures, and honour is one of our highest.

Before I knew what I was doing I was calling upon my powers. I called to the ocean to help me. To lend me its strength and power. To lend me some of its body and spirit to help the man I feel somewhat connected to. I never noticed Temari watched me with curious eyes as I lifted my hands to the skies and begged with all my heart for the help of our god. He answered my prays as the boat rocked with the anger of the ocean. I sighed in relief as wave after wave crashed upon the ship dislodging Sai from his position in front of Sasuke and got throw overboard. I barely noticed as his crew slowly retreated also. My knee's gave out as my strength was depleted from the little that I had. I felt the wooden planks shudder as I came crashing down, but could care less as my head hit the deck and once again I welcomed the darkness that gave me much needed rest. As my eyes drifted shut I looked for Sasuke and saw with relief that he was ok and shrugging off everyone that asked him if he was ok. His back was to me as he looked out to sea and I couldn't help but ask myself why? Why had I gone to so much for him? And with that the darkness consumed me.

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**So how was that? I don't know if it was any good or not. Be honest, just not brutally thank you very much. I think it's pretty much a filler chapter. Enjoy. XD**


	7. Chapter Six

**I've changed a part near the end with out their wounds heal. XD**

**Chapter Six**

This was becoming a habit now; waking up with a pounding headache from the darkness that had consumed me. I couldn't even raise my head this time, as I felt like my limbs had humpback whales were lying on them. I couldn't even move a muscle.

A voice to the side of me made me open my eyes slowly, centimetre by centimetre.

"This happens quite often to you does it?" A feminine voice pierced my hearing as I groaned, slowly lifting my eyelids until a bleary picture formed in my sight.

A girl with four blonde pigtails came into view as she wiped my brow with a cloth.

"Tem… ar… i?" I only just got out as my voice rasped. She smiled lightly at me, seemingly almost in a guilty way.

"You're like a cat. It seems you've got nine lives," she smirked at this, and even I managed a little quirk of the lips before I moaned again as my head throbbed.

"What… happened?" The last thing I remembered was Sasuke and Sai in combat.

"Sasuke won the fight. I… I saw what you did. I know." I think my heart may have stopped at that sentence, like how your heart stops if you stand on one of those deadly poisonous urchins. But I decided to play it clueless,

"Know… what?" My breathing starting to accelerate as I watched through blurry eyes as she pressed more water into my skin.

"I've heard the legends… Of the Merpeople in the Sea… That they can control the ocean. That they need water to survive, and that they can create legs to walk on land. But when touched with water they turn back into their true form of the Sea.

"You're a Mermaid Sakura." Her voice sounded almost accusing as she finished and then looked at me with narrowed eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't identify.

"That's ridiculous, Mermaids are just a fairytale told to children when they are – wahh! What are you doing!?" I was definitely not expecting the pail of water that landed on me moments later, transforming my long legs clothed in only the dark pink shorts that always appeared when in human form, into my dark pink shimmering tail. My form of the sea as Temari said.

Being Royalty, with the blood of the first Merpeople, my tail was large, easily as long as my body, with my two fins forking out, as large as the length of my arms, the wide fins see through with dark designs of flowers veining out from the base of my tail. The width of the fins was easily as large as my shoulder width, if not an inch wider. Around my waist was a belt of the same dark flowers, woven into my tail and into the skin of stomach around to my back. It was all a part of me. The light pink shimmering scales of my tail, the lighter glossy see through skin of my fins, and the dark flowers decorating my fins and waist. All of it was me in my sea form, all a part of my being.

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Lying there on the floor, I felt like a fish out of water, my seaweed holding starfish top glistening with the remnants of the water as I lifted my tail up over my head to wave in front of Temari's wide-eyed face as if she couldn't actually believe it was true, no matter her suspicions.

"You – you really are a M – mer…" She trailed off as if saying it aloud would shatter the dreamlike image I must be portraying right now. I decided to take pity on the poor girl and moved up into a more comfortable position, with my tail lying to the right of me, curled around my hip.

"A Mermaid. Yes, I am the Royal Princess. Other Mermaids will have shorter and less powerful tails than me, and yes there are others." I quickly intervened as I saw her open her mouth to ask more questions. "I am bound to this ship by your captain, so I am doomed to spend the rest of my, or at least his life considering I live far longer than humans, to this ship until the day he sets me free. I can control the sea, to a whole new level than normal Merpeople. I am their Princess so I can freeze, manipulate and create water and use it as I see fit. Does that answer everything now?" I watched patiently as her mouth slowly closed and her head nodded involuntary.

"Great, now can I please get a towel before someone else comes in? I have to change back, but to do that I have to be a lot drier than I am right now." With sharp movements I watched as Temari got to her feet, muttering to herself that she must have hit her head harder than she thought, before she returned with a fluffy white towel. It took under 3 minutes before I was back in human form, but it was then that my entire body felt like it was on fire, originating from my leg, straight to my heart, making me cry out and stumble in surprise.

If not for Temari grabbing my arm and steadying me I think I would have hit the ground once again.

Looking down I saw the skin of my leg knitting itself back together and it was then I remembered that if we are injured in our human form when we transform back into our true forms the wounds will heal themselves, but we will feel every knit and bone moving back into place. It's a painful experience even if it ends up saving our lives.

After explaining this to her, she led me out of the room and down to the corridor. Surveying my surroundings as I was led forwards, I saw the ships extensive damage, to the crew and to the ship itself.

Splinters of wood lay scattered on the floors, walls half demolished and furniture laying around, completely shattered.

It stung my heart to see crew members sitting with their backs to the walls, redness seeping through their loose bandages around various parts of their bodies; legs, arms, feet, hands, heads. Walking with Temari past all these men made me realise that Temari and I were the only females on this ship, indefinitely. This thought made me cringe as to how I would be treated considering they wouldn't be around woman 24/7 so they wouldn't know how to act.

This thought was quenched as Temari led me into a blue and red room, a large bed in the middle of the room practically made me salivate as I missed the comfort of my bed back home; instead of the wooden floors I seem to be sleeping on lately.

"This is one of the spare rooms, you'll be staying here until Captain Uchiha figures out what he wants to do with you. My room is just across from yours so if you need anything, just call. It's the middle of the night and you can't really do anything what with your injury, so just try to get some sleep and in the morning we can deal with everything, alright?" With a small smile Temari left me alone in the room, alone with my thoughts as to what was going to happen to me the next day.

With a sigh I burrowed myself into the soft cushioning of the duvet, flinching as my leg began to throb, but drifted off to sleep nevertheless, dreaming of onyx eyes turning red, and of dark hair as soft as velvet as my hands ran through it, completely unawares of the conversation happening miles away on another ship…

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"How did I not win!? I had him by the neck, that ship was mine for the taking!" A man with dark hair and expressionless eyes yelled, hitting servants as he stomped his way to his quarters. A red haired curvaceous woman followed him, her heels clicking on the wood as she cooed to him, her eyes rolling at his outbursts.

"It was that girl, the one with pink hair! She did it! I know she did!" The captain of the ship named 'The Deadly Artist' ranted his eyes wild as the image of the defiant girl entered his mind. First when he threw her down the stairs after she had thrown practically half his crew overboard with her crazy steering, and then again when he, himself, was thrown overboard. Her hands hand been raised to the sky, her eyes fixed on waves that had been practically ramming the ship with their strength. He knew she was responsible, but he just didn't know how or why. That was what he was going to find out, and when did… that girl better watch out. He would make her pay. Pay dearly.

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**If anyone can think of a better title for Sai's ship you are most welcome. I will make sure your name is written in dedications. XD Enjoy the update.**


	8. Chapter Seven

**Oh my god, its been so long I actually forgot what this story was about. No, just kidding. Its just been so long I know. And I am not even sure if this chapter makes sense, or flows or whatever. Just let me know what you all think, and try not to send me hate mail about where I've been all this time. :P**

**Chapter Seven**

The next day I woke up with no lingering pain in my leg, and feeling refreshed, if not a little thirsty. So the first thing I did was get up, gingerly stepping on my leg, just testing it. When I could feel nothing but the normal pressure of the muscles stretching I made my way to the door, and peeked out, seeing no one I continued on my way. Besides being thirsty, I was also a little hungry.

Debris still littered the hallway but it was considerably less than the night before.

Stepping carefully over a large plank of wood I made my way to the door and shoved against it to pry it open. Sunlight filtered through the widening gap making me cringe and hiss in pain at the sudden brightness.

Suddenly a frightening scene came into focus; a captain with fiery red eyes shouting orders at his crew. The eyes as red as blood, with spinning black marks, enthralling me in its grasp.

Gasping, a stumbled back, hitting a solid object behind me. A voice above me had me looking up to see blue eyes and blonde hair.

"Watch it Sakura, you may hurt yourself again, scared us all half to death you did," Naruto's rumbling voice gave comfort to my fear of Sasuke's eyes. I was just about to reply when the sound of running feet had me spinning just in time to catch the small body barrelling into my chest. I laughed as I wrapped my arms around Satoshi's warm body, ruffling his hair in affection.

"Were you worried baby boy?" I cooed looking into his glistening eyes. In answer Satoshi just cuddled closer, shaking his head in defiance. I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled from my throat as I cocked him on my hip and started to look around the deck in the sunshine to see the amount of damage the ship took.

Planks of wood lay in abundance around the deck, with red marks seen every here and there where a pirate had fallen, whether to his death or just with injury.

Walking around the ship I couldn't help but see the sad attempts at fixing the broken planks of the ships interior and build.

A shadow blocked the sun from my eyes and when I looked up narrowed onyx eyes were glaring at me.

"Why is she walking around the ship as if she is _not_ a prisoner?" The captain was very scary when he was angry. Kind of like a daddy octopus when you decide you want to make him squirt ink… not the best of my childhood memories. Let's just say I was cleaning off the ink marks for week afterwards.

"Hey teme… she just saved a whole bunch of us in that attack. Where is she going to go anyway? All that's out there is a whole lot of open ocean," Naruto's voice from behind me, reverberating through his chest which I could feel at my back, was soothing and reassuring.

"Yeah Captain, Naruto's right. She just saved our hides. The least we could do is give her the benefit of the doubt and put her to work to help us with the ship," Temari added her part before turning back to the work she was doing. The Captain stared me down, but I had had a lot of practise with my own father at keeping up an emotionless façade when someone is trying to intimidate you.

"Grab a bucket and start mopping up the blood," he commanded before walking away to help a crewmate with some ropes.

"Is he always like this?" I couldn't help but ask as I gently placed Satoshi on his feet.

"Sometimes worse," Naruto spoke seriously, wiggling his eyebrows, making me laugh as I grabbed a mop.

This was going to a loooong day.

It took all day, but we finally had the ship looking liveable. The broken wood had been stored in the cellar, we had repainted the mast and a lot of the interior of the ship as well as mopping away the deck until the wood underneath shined through. Not a bad job if I do say so myself.

I was just finishing up tying off a loose rope when I felt a presence behind me. I didn't even need to look to know it was the Captain that had bound me to his ship.

"Why were you in the water?" His deep voice still sending shivers down my back as I turned and stood to my full height in front of him. Which was only up to his chin, mind you.

"I've told you multiple times now, Captain, I fell from my ship. I was in the water for hours before you rescued me in your fishing nets." My eyes narrowed as I watched the mistrust build in his eyes. I helped save his crewmates and his ship and he still couldn't give me the benefit of the doubt.

"You can stop the lies, Princess. Your story is impossible." His eyes seemed to look right through me as he began to walk away. "I'll find out the truth one way or another Sa-ku-ra."

Watching him go I couldn't help but feel that he would find the truth, one way or another.


End file.
